Winners and Losers of National Signing Day

National signing day can be one of the most exciting days of the year for a college football program. Conversely, it can also be a very disappointing day.

The line between commitments and decommitments is often very thin. The choice between one hat or the other can sometimes come down to a last-minute decision or last-second recruiting push.

Victory and defeat are oftentimes separated by inches on the football field, and the same can be said on the recruiting trail—but instead of inches, it comes down to moments and sometimes even seconds.

One second, you think you have an elite recruit locked up. The next, you hear that he's gone to your rival. Sometimes it's the other way around, though, so you really never do know.

That's the drama of national signing day, folks.

With all of that in mind, here's a look at the biggest winners and losers so far on national signing day 2013.

Ole Miss was making a strong push for Jones at the end, but the Bulldogs were able to overcome that.

He'll come in to the program and be a marquee superstar for the Bulldogs. His presence alone on defense will command double teams, put pressure on the quarterback, and ultimately make the whole defense better.

Vanderbilt has been making strides as a program under coach Franklin, and Cunningham's commitment really represents that. With so many elite programs to compete with in the SEC, it takes a strong coach with a vision and incredible talent on the recruiting trail to really compete.

Loser: USC

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USC recruiting is not having a great day so far. That can change, mind you, and it already has picked up a bit, but overall the early part of national signing day had to feel somewhat depressing for USC fans.

Yesterday, 5-star cornerback Jalen Ramsey flipped from the Trojans to Florida State. He made that decision official on Wednesday.

The Trojans did pick up a nice recruiting win when Quinton Powellcommitted to USC. Quinton Powell is ranked as the No. 14 outside linebacker in the 2013 class (247Sports Composite), so he's a big commitment. With USC losing so many defensive players in the past few weeks, picking up a talented player like Powell sure helps out a lot.

Even though he is a huge pickup for USC, that win alone won't get USC off the losers list just yet.

I expect Savaiinaea to come in and compete for playing time right away. He has a great combination of speed and size, and he should at the very least get some valuable reps as a backup and on special teams.

Woulard on the other hand will be behind redshirt sophomore Brett Hundley on the depth chart so he may want to take a redshirt season. Eventually though, he'd be a more than adequate replacement once Hundley moves on.

Loser: Texas A&M

Teas A&M still has a tremendous class and the future of the program is still incredibly bright, but the Aggies did experience two notable recruiting losses so far on signing day.

The first came when former USC commitment Torrodney Prevot chose Oregon over Texas A&M. The next recruiting loss came in the form of the aforementioned Isaac Savaiinaea, who committed to UCLA over the Aggies.

Like I said, Kevin Sumlin's class is still very strong and Aggies fans have plenty to be excited about, but I would be remiss not to mention that Texas A&M lost out on two very big recruits today.

The importance of Oregon landing Prevot's commitment can't be overstated. The fact that he's a former USC commitment is huge for Helfrich. Chip Kelly had developed somewhat of a reputation for being able to steal USC recruits at the last minute, and Helfrich kept up the tradition going.

Prevot should be able to compete to be in and compete for playing time at defensive end now that Dion Jordan is gone. At the very least, he'll be a part of a rotation at the position.

What makes this commitment even more impressive for Meyer is that he was able to land Bell over Nick Saban at Alabama, and Bell's childhood favorite—Tennessee.

Bell is versatile enough to play either corner or safety at the college level, so I wouldn't be surprised if he got reps at both positions. He's good enough to compete for the starting job at either position, so it may come down to where Ohio State needs him the most.

I expect he should also put on a bit more mass in the weight room at Ohio State, so look for him to start at safety as a sophomore.

Winner: Florida State

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Jimbo Fisher and the Florida State Seminoles got a huge signing day commitment from 5-star outside linebacker Matthew Thomas.

This signing is big for a few reasons. First off, Thomas goes to Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida—which is a big Miami Hurricanes pipeline school. The Seminoles also landed Thomas over said Hurricanes, so this will go down as a huge in-state win for the Seminoles.

Matthews is a player who will be elite on the edges of the defense. He has a tremendous combination of physicality and athleticism. He's big and tough enough to play strong against the run, but he also has good quickness and mobility, so he can play in space as a cover linebacker, and excel as a rush-linebacer.

Thomas' signature comes a day after FSU was able to flipJalen Ramsey from USC. Florida State also landed top-notch defensive tackle recruit Keith Bryant. Ramsey is another recruit that can contribute right away for the Seminoles. He has great size at 6'0.5'', 189 pounds and he runs a 4.53 40 according to 247Sports. He'd be a great option as a nickel corner, but should eventually work his way up to the top of the depth chart.

With the addition of those few elite recruits alone, Florida State's defense of the future will be incredibly formidable.

Loser: Miami

He's an elite outside linebacker recruit, ranked No. 2 overall by the 247Sports Composite, and he would have been a marquee recruiting win for Al Golden and the Hurricanes. The fact that he goes to Booker T. just adds to the disappointment.

Winner: LSU

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Les Miles and the LSU Tigers received the commitment of big-time defensive end recruit Tashawn Bower, who ended up flipping from Auburn and Florida on signing day. He had reportedly signed with Florida earlier in the morning, but Bower is now signed with LSU.

Bower represents a huge pickup for the Tigers, and he'll help fill a big need at defensive end since Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo are going to the NFL. Bower will compete with the likes of Jermauria Rasco, Danielle Hunter 4-star defensive end recruit Frank Herron for playing time at defensive end.

He'll end up being a big part of the rotation for LSU, and he's undoubtedly a huge commitment for depth purposes.

Winner: Clemson

Clemson had put itself in a great position to land Adams and he seemed very into the Tigers program, but when all was said and done, Adams chose to sign with the Auburn Tigers.

That said, just an hour or so later the Tigers were able to land the commitment of 5-star cornerback MacKensie Alexander.

Alexander is the No. 4 ranked corner in the 2013 class according to the 247Sports Composite and runs a 4.40 40-yard dash (247Sports). He's talented enough to start from day one at Clemson and I expect he'll at the very least challenge to do so. He's a good cover-corner, but he'll also be able to come up and play very physical at the line of scrimmage. Alexander uses his hands well to jam the receiver or get off blocks, and that should be able to set him apart.

He's a big recruit for Clemson to land, and he gets them on the "winners list" despite losing out on Adams.

Update: Clemson was also able to land 4-star offensive guard Tyrone Crowder, who has incredible potential. He's 6'1'', 330 pounds and is ranked as the No. 7 offensive guard recruit in the 2013 class according to the 247Sports Composite. Crowder represents a huge recruiting win for Clemson, and he projects to be very good.

Green is the perfect running back for the pro-style offense, so he's a big recruit for Michigan to sign. He's 6'0'', 220 pounds and runs a 4.58 40 according to 247Sports. He'll be able to run strong between the tackles, but he's also quick enough to bounce it outside. Speaking of between the tackles, Hoke has put together a very strong group of offensive lineman.

Morris on the other-hand projects to be the quarterback of the future for Michigan. He still needs a bit of work and time, but he has a very strong arm and all the intangibles that you look for in a star quarterback.

This class has a chance to be elite when all is said and done, and the same could be said for Michigan football.

The Fighting Irish had drastically cooled down on the recruiting trail since losing the national championship to Alabama, but this pickup on national signing day puts Notre Dame recruiting right back in the mix with the elite classes.

Vanderdoes has superstar potential as a defensive lineman. He's big and strong enough to play the 0-technique in the 3-4, so he could be an option to eventually replace Louis Nix at nose tackle. He could also slide over and be a two-gap player as a 5-technique defensive end though, and he has the technique and quickness to be very good there as well.

Overall, landing Vanderdoes will go down as a marquee recruiting win for the Fighting Irish.

Henry should get No. 2 reps at running back, Howard is going to be a superstar tight end at the college level, Bateman very well could be the "next man up" after A.J. McCarron and Williams projects to be a great pass rusher.

'Bama also was able to hold on to the commitment of 5-star inside linebacker Reuben Foster, who signed today (dressed like Nick Saban none the less). He's going to be one of the best linebackers in college football soon enough.

At noon (EST) the Crimson Tide landed the signature of 5-star defensive end Dee Liner, who is a former Auburn commitment and a big-time recruit in the class of 2013.

As if all that wasn't impressive enough, Auburn was able to hang on to the commitment of 5-star defensive end Carl Lawson, who has star potential. At times, he looked like he could possibly flip, so that's a huge win for the Tigers.

Finally, Auburn landed 5-star defensive tackle Montravius Adams, and he has potential to one of the best defensive players in the country.

The combination of Lawson and Adams on the line is going to cause a lot of trouble for opposing linemen. Adams is big and strong enough to really control the gap from a defensive tackle position, but he also has good speed and technique, so he should get into the backfield quite a bit. Conversely, Lawson has the talent to dominate the edges and force the ball back inside, so they'll be essentially funneling the ball to each other or to a waiting linebacker.

Overall, Auburn went from one of the coldest programs in recruiting, to one of the hottest.

Winner: Ole Miss

Simply put, Nkemdiche has elite potential as a defensive end at the college level, so he's a marquee recruiting win for the Ole Miss program. The impact of Nkemdiche's commitment will stretch far beyond the football field though and onto the recruiting trail.

Ole Miss has now become a viable option for elite recruits, and Nkemdiche basically solidified that when he chose the Rebels over two SEC powers in Florida and LSU.

The next step for Hugh Freeze's program will be taking the talent it landed today and using that to win on the field. Recruiting hype can only do so much for a program, so this class will have to have a big impact on the Rebels' win-loss record in order for there to be a long-term impact.

That said, it's hard to deny the fact that Ole Miss was arguably the biggest winner today.